The advent of formation of plastic materials such as plastic sheets, films and nonwoven webs by extrusion processes such as, for example, slot film extrusion, blown bubble film extrusion, meltblowing of nonwoven webs and spinbonding of nonwoven webs allowed a wide variety of products to be manufactured so inexpensively that they could be viewed as disposable after only one or a few uses. Representatives of such products include diapers, tissues, wipes and mattress pads.
Some of the problems in this area are the provision of an elastic material which is resilient and flexible while still having a pleasing hand or feel. Other characteristics which are desirable are the ability to withstand unraveling during cutting and sewing operations, good puncture resistance, wet strength and a low linting factor. A particular problem which has confronted those in the art is the provision of an elastic material which does not feel plastic or rubbery. Another problem which has confronted those in the art has been in providing a low cost elastic material which is highly resistant to abrasion and thus will have an extended life expectancy when used in applications where the material is subjected to abrasive abuse.